Background Globally, over 37.9 million people are living with HIV in 2018 and sub-Saharan Africa carries 71% of the global HIV epidemics. In Ethiopia, there were an estimated 613,000 HIV cases in 2017. This study aimed to assess the trend of HIV incidence in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Methods A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using routine HIV data from 2015 to 2018. We extracted HIV records from the Amhara Regional Health Bureau database. Data confidentiality was secured through data anonymity. Data were entered, cleaned and analyzed by IBM SPSS version 22 (Armonk, NY, USA). Various descriptive statistics such as counts, proportions and trends were computed to see the magnitude of HIV in the study area. Results A total of 57,293 new HIV cases were reported from 2015 to 2018 and 33,720 (59%) were females. The majority, 40,054 (70%), of HIV cases were among people in 25−49 years. The overall incidence rate of HIV from 2015 to 2018 was 6.9 per 1000 population. The annual HIV incidence rates were 7.3. 6.3, 7.4 and 6.63 per 1000 population in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. The incidence rate per 1000 population was high in Dessie town (5.74), Bahir Dar city (4.27) and Gondar town (3.00). About 49,564 (86.5%) of HIV cases have started ART and 33% of them had TB infection where 54% of them were females. Only 14869 (30%) people on ART had normal nutritional status. Conclusion HIV remains a public health concern in the Amhara Region and the burden varied by place, time, gender and age groups. Improving awareness creation and community mobilization, managing TB infection and undernutrition problems, and making HIV screening services available in all healthcare facilities are crucial to decrease HIV infection. Special attention is also required to avoid risk factors that increased HIV incidence among females.

Hospital (MCHH), a small urban hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, were enrolled in the study. Oral consent was obtained and the study was approved by Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Ethics Committee of the University of Chicago. The time each woman remained in the hospital determined if she was assigned to the early discharge group (<8 hours) or normal discharge group (>8 hours). Information on the pregnancy, delivery and the health of the newborn was recorded at birth. Additional health information was obtained at 1, 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age. Findings: The early and normal discharge groups included 123 and 133 women, respectively. The median post-delivery hospital stay at MCHH was 8.9 hours. For all infants in the study, there was a nearly 100 percent completion of immunizations and no infant deaths at 14 weeks. The mean infant weight gain in the first week of life was 0.17 kg for the early discharge group and 0.25 kg for the normal discharge group (Two-Sample T-Test, P¼0.1). Early discharge was not significantly associated with rhinorrhea, cough, diarrhea, fast breathing, vomiting, poor feeding, fever, or seizure. Interpretation: We conclude that for low-risk pregnancies with uncomplicated deliveries, early discharge does not adversely affect infant health at MCHH. We attribute this outcome to an effective triage system between MCHH and a much larger neighboring tertiary care center. These results suggest that development of maternal and child health triaging systems can promote efficiency and cost-reduction in resource limited settings.

Background: Human scabies is a highly contagious human dermatitis disease. As indicated by the national and regional reports, the epidemic of scabies became a major public health problem in Ethiopia since 2015. Objective: To identify the determinant factors of scabies outbreak in Takusa district, Northwest Ethiopia, 2017.Methods: A community based unmatched case-control study among 188 participants (63 cases and 125 controls) was conducted in Takusa district from September to October 2017. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was computed using SPSS version 22 to identify factors associated with scabies. Odds ratio at 95% CI and p-value less than 0.05 were used to describe the strength of the association and statistical significance. Results: The median age of cases was 20 years (ranges1-61). Presence of person with itching in the family (AOR=7.7, 95% CI:1.9-30.5), sleeping with scabies patient (AOR=3.99, 95% CI:1.37-11.7), travel to scabies epidemic area in the last six weeks (AOR=3.79, 95%CI:1.28-11.1) and infrequent use of detergent for showering (AOR=4.85; 95% CI: 1.3-17.9)) were found to be determinant factors of scabies outbreak. Conclusion: Frequent contact with people who develop scabies at home, not using detergents for washing, and mobility of people from non-epidemic to the epidemic areas were determinant factors. Giving special emphasis on regular awareness creation to the rural community is important to prevent scabies outbreak.